Mulholland Dr. (2001)

In Best Director-nominated David Lynch's surreal, mystifying, mind-twisting, dream-like modern neo-noir about the illusion of Hollywood fame - the most confusing aspect of this surrealistic mystery drama was that it told a twisting and turning tale involving dual characterizations (or personas) of the two female protagonists:

• 'Rita'/Camilla Rhodes (Laura Elena Harring) - a dark-haired brunette, full-bodied femme fatale and amnesiac
• Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn (Naomi Watts) - a wholesome, pert blonde ingenue in the film's first 3/4ths, and then a dirty-blonde, failed actress and junkie

In a nutshell, Diane and Betty were the same person (most of the film was Diane's fantasy dream of being successful in Hollywood as Betty). In fact, the first three quarters of the film (roughly 111 minutes of the 147 minute film) was an idealistically-portrayed and romanticized fantasy dream by Diane Selwyn - a waitress who imagined herself to be aspiring starlet Betty Elms (also Watts) who had come to Hollywood to find fame.

A mysterious blue 'Pandora's' box with a blue key signified the break between the first part of the film's DREAM (told in traditional linear fashion) and the second part's REALITY (including Diane's suicidal death told in non-linear form enhanced with flashbacks, subconscious thought, memories, and further hallucinations).

When Diane's dream of stardom and becoming an actress wasn't fulfilled, she became depressed and murderous. She felt jilted by lesbian friend 'Rita'/Camilla (who received the lead acting role and fell in love with the casting director). From the very start of the film, Betty/Diane had re-imagined Camilla as a dependent, lost amnesiac named 'Rita.' 'Rita' was Betty's-Diane's unrealistic fantasy of who she wanted Camilla to be. When her delusions and reality itself failed her, Diane jealously put out a hit contract on her ex-lover and competing actress Camilla. Guilt-ridden after ordering the assassination of Camilla who had ascended to stardom, and knowing that the hit had been made, Diane committed suicide; her rotting corpse was found on her bed.

• in the basic plot as the film opened: Diane had a romanticized dream in which she imagined herself as Betty (Naomi Watts) - a perky, smiling, excited, strongly-willed, successful blonde ingenue and wannabe newcomer to Los Angeles (the city of dreams) from Canada - she had won a teen jitterbug dance contest in Canada (seen during the credits) that allowed her to travel to Hollywood: ("Oh! I can't believe it!...and now I'm in this dream-place"); this was a hint that much of the film would be a delusional dream or have dream elements
• Betty was staying in the vacant apartment of her beloved, older red-haired Aunt Ruth (Maya Bond); the building was managed by "Coco" (Ann Miller), aka Mrs. Lenoix; Betty's Aunt Ruth was away on vacation, or possibly dead, or as Betty claimed: "She's working on a movie... that's being made in Canada"; Betty had been left an inheritance by her Aunt
• before meeting Betty, a confused, bruised, amnesiac and frightened dark-haired woman (not named yet) had just escaped an attempt on her life by her limo driver (due to a pair of race cars that rammed her limo on Mulholland Dr. as she was driven to a party at the address 6980 on the drive - a famous twisting and turning road in Hollywood); she exited the limo and walked downhill; afterwards, she wandered about - with amnesia - and fell asleep in the vacated apartment where Betty was going to be staying
• Betty met the dark-haired, amnesiac young woman in the apartment, assuming her Aunt had given her permission to stay; Betty told the female about her Aunt's upscale place: "I couldn't afford a place like this in a million years. Unless of course, I'm discovered and become a movie star. Of course, I'd rather be known as a great actress than a movie star, but, you know, sometimes people end up being both so, that is, I guess you'd say, sort of why I came here. I'm sorry. I'm just so excited to be here. I mean I just came here from Deep River, Ontario, and now I'm in this dream place"
• the confused brunette didn't know her name - so she plucked the name 'Rita' from a 'Gilda' movie poster that mentioned star Rita Hayworth; both Betty and 'Rita' were presumably aspects of Diane's imagination [Note: in Diane's dream of stardom (in the person of Betty), she took charge of the relationship with the glamorous brunette dubbed 'Rita']
• meanwhile, casting director Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) was being threatened by mobsters to cast an unknown, ingenue blonde actress named Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) for the lead role in his new Hollywood film, The Sylvia North Story; Adam was also having marital problems with his wife - who was discovered sleeping with Gene (Billy Ray Cyrus), and he was also suffering from financial issues; he agreed to meet a mysterious individual known as the Cowboy (Monty Montgomery); also, an inept hitman in a building flubbed a murder-for-hire job
• after finding a blue key and money in Rita's purse, Betty and Rita went to Winkie's Diner, where earlier in the film, a scary, monstrous character (Bonnie Aarons) was seen behind Winkie's diner - a disheveled homeless man [Note: he was symbolic of the 'demon' that started to breed evil thoughts in Diane's disintegrating mind - to kill her girlfriend]; in the Diner, the waitress (Missy Crider) who served them was named "Diane," causing 'Rita' to remember the name Diane Selwyn (Betty's alter-ego); a phone call to Diane's number in the phone book resulted in no answer

Waitress Diane (Missy Crider) at Winkie's Restaurant

• naive wannabe starlet Betty went to try out for a part in a new Hollywood film and found herself in a creepy but masterfully-acted audition scene; she performed a sexually-tainted script with a tanned and aging lothario Jimmy 'Woody' Katz (Chad Everett) - when she whispered into his ear and bit his lip: ("I hate you. I hate us both")
• she was taken to a set where casting director Adam Kesher was listening to actress auditions; one of the ingenue actresses was blonde Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George), first seen singing Linda Scott's "I’ve Told Every Little Star"; Betty-Diane enviously and jealously watched on set as Adam chose Camilla for an actress role (competing with Diane); after Camilla's audition, Adam decisively declared: "This is the girl" and kissed her; Betty locked eyes with Adam, then hurriedly excused herself: "I have to be somewhere. I-I promised a friend. I'm sorry. I-I must go."; Diane knew that she had been rejected and jilted, and her relationship with 'Rita' was in jeopardy

Camilla Rhodes (During Audition)

Actress Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) (Photo)

• Betty and 'Rita' broke into Diane Selwyn's apartment when there was no answer at the door; 'Rita's dark dress and shape were at first on a bed, then reverted to Diane's clothes and body; they had found the aspiring actress Diane dead

At First, 'Rita' on the Bed, Then Diane

• foreshadowing -- Diane was really a dirty-blonde, failed actress and junkie - looking jaded, haggard, and beaten down, and had been living by herself in a cheap rented apartment
• Betty and 'Rita' returned to their apartment, where 'Rita' donned a blonde wig - another clue that the two identities of blonde Betty/Diane and 'Rita' were somehow integrally intertwined - the incident was symbolic of the relationship between Diane/Betty and 'Rita'; Betty remade Rita to look more like her as a blonde in order to be transformed into her ideal
• they engaged in the first of two steamy, topless, hesitant and exploratory lesbian love scenes; in the first instance, 'Rita' removed her robe, slipped into Betty's bed naked - and was asked the question: "Have you ever done this before?" followed by a kiss on the lips. Betty then confessed: "I want to with you. I'm in love with you. I'm in love with you"
• later in the middle of the night, the two visited a nightclub called Club Silencio, where a man named Bondar on stage announced that the music and singing were all an illusion and faked: ("It's all recorded. No hay banda! It's all a tape. Il n'est pas de orquestra. It is...an illusion!"); the singer Rebekah Del Rio (as Herself) had been lip-synching a Spanish version of Roy Orbison's song about heartbreak: "Crying"
• afterwards - at a key moment in the film, Betty found a blue box in her purse that matched Rita's key; Diane's DREAM-like part of the film ended at the 115 minute mark when the blue box found in Betty's purse was opened by Rita with a mysterious blue key that the now-blonde Rita had found in her purse (after Betty disappeared); the box fell to the floor -- a zoom into the interior of the box signaled a transitional change from a dream to reality [Note: The opening of the blue box signified Diane's discovery or realization that her false dream about her alter-ego Betty had ended.]
• also, The Cowboy appeared in the doorway of Diane Selwyn's bedroom saying, "Hey, pretty girl. Time to wake up"; when Diane was commanded to wake up at her apartment from her dream by the Cowboy, the remainder of the story in the film's last section was told in flashback - and was an accounting of what had really happened
• the film now shifted entirely to the character of Diane Selwyn (also Naomi Watts), a failed actress with significant delusions, whose unrequited love interest was for aspiring actress Camilla (also played by Laura Elena Harring); Camilla invited Diane to attend a dinner party at the Mulholland Dr. home of casting director Adam
• now at the end of the film, the story circled flashed back to the beginning - dirty blonde Diane (not 'Rita') was in a limo on its way to 6980 Mulholland Dr.; she exited the vehicle and walked uphill

Two Different Trips on Mulholland Dr.
'Rita' - Beginning of Film	Diane - End of Film

• Diane described how she had arrived in Hollywood after her Aunt died, and auditioned for Adam's new movie The Sylvia North Story; however, Camilla was also auditioning and Adam preferred her and gave her the role, and they were about to announce their engagement; contrary to what was imagined earlier in the film, Adam's life was very much under control
• Diane's fantasy was shattered - she had imagined how her life could have been better - unrealistically, from the beginning of the film; she had seen herself as naive starlet Betty with both a successful Hollywood career and a love affair with Camilla - the film's major storyline - but everything had failed miserably; ; in her mind, Camilla had found another lesbian lover

Camilla Rhodes (also Laura Elena Harring) Seen Earlier by Betty/Diane as 'Rita'	Diane's Jealousy of 'Rita'/Camilla On-Set with Director Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux)
Diane's Delusion: Camilla Rhodes Kissing Another Lesbian Lover	Adam with Camilla - Announcing Their Engagement

• the guilt-ridden, hallucinating and depressed Diane fantasized that a half naked, bi-sexual 'Rita'/Camilla was awaiting her for sex on a couch (Camilla: "You drive me wild!"); (See uncensored version here) after Diane touched Camilla and they kissed for a few moments, she was coldly rejected when told: "We shouldn't do this anymore." Diane objected: "Don't ever say that"
• suffering from unrequited love over her lost girlfriend Camilla, Diane masturbated in a fevered state, crying and anguished
• she was seen arranging to hire a hitman at Winkie's diner (on Sunset Blvd.) to eliminate her competition; while being served by a clumsy Winkie's waitress named Betty, Diane contracted for $50,000 to kill the voluptuous Camilla; the hitman pulled out a blue key and told Diane that once the hit had been made, she would find the key in a prearranged location; a quick glimpse of the monstrous man behind the diner next to the dumpster showed him in possession of the blue box

Jealous Diane Arranging Camilla's Death with Hitman in Winkie's Diner	Camilla Rhodes - The Target of Diane's Hit-Man
Waitress Betty (Missy Crider) at Winkie's Restaurant

• in her apartment - with the blue key on the coffee table in front of her, Diane realized that Camilla had been eliminated; Diane began wildly hallucinating, raced into her darkened bedroom, reached into her nightstand drawer for a gun, and suicidally shot herself in the head - she was found dead on her bed; the final spoken word of the film was "Silencio" uttered by a formally-dressed female sitting in a theater box
• [Note: It could be conjectured that after Diane shot herself, her brain's electrical activity intensified before she actually died; and for those few seconds, it's possible that she triggered - literally - the fantasy visions that composed the first two-thirds of the film; one of her remorseful delusions might have been that Camilla had survived the car accident at the film's opening, when in reality, that's when she died]